Proposed ordinance is confusing

Dear Editor:

I run an independent trucking firm here in Morgan County and have been personally and professionally interested in the proposed Morgan County Zoning Ordinance going up for vote on November 2.

What I found, in an effort to understand the document, was much verbal confusion and double-talk. It was almost as if the zoning restrictions were drafted in a rush to meet a certain deadline with little thought given to the average Morgan County citizen who will have to understand and live with the consequences of the proposed restrictions.

Following are but a few examples quoted from the ordinance itself:
“Words used in the present tense include the future; and words used in the singular number include the plural; and the plural includes the singular; words of masculine gender will include the feminine and the neutral gender will refer to any gender, as required, unless the context plainly indicates the contrary.”

“No land, building, structure or premises shall hereafter be used and no building or part thereof or other structure shall be located, erected, reconstructed, extended or enlarged except in conformity with the regulations herein specified for the district in which it is located, except as otherwise provided in this ordinance or West Virginia Code 8A-7-10 (c) or (d).”

“Land in the overlay district may be used for any purpose otherwise permitted in the underlying zoning district(s) subject to the additional restrictions and/or requirements provided herein or in the county’s other applicable ordinances.”

The entire ordinance is a labyrinth of patchwork perplexity. It appears that the average citizen must either knuckle under to the whim of a zoning enforcement officer or he must bear the expense of a lawyer and trust his well being and livelihood to five unelected bureaucrats or to a court’s interpretation.

I simply cannot vote for this ordinance.

John Reed
Berkeley Springs